Drew Doughty leaves LA Kings' preseason game early with injury

The Los Angeles Kings would get their first preseason win of the season with a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. However, not everything from the game was positive and in fact they could have suffered a big loss for this team entering the regular season.

Drew Doughty, their top defenseman, would leave the game in the first period after sliding into the boards. The Kings quickly ruled him out with a lower-body injury, which appeared to be his left knee based on the replays.

After the game, head coach Jim Hiller didn't have an update and said the team would return to Los Angeles for them to take a closer look at the injury. It would probably make sense for the team to be very cautious with Doughty and should keep him out of the remaining preseason games.

If the injury is longer, this would be a pretty big loss for the defense, as Doughty has been the Kings' best defenseman and one of the best throughout the NHL. He also contributed on the scoring attack as he had 15 goals last season, the first time he had double-digit goals since the 2017-18 season.

This is now the second significant injury the Kings have had to deal with over the past week as Arthur Kaliyev suffered a fractured clavicle during practice and will be out for a few months. Hopefully, the injury for Doughty is not as serious and he will be ready to go in time for the regular season.